Wednesday, August 31, 2011

I woke up this morning slightly manic. Actually, I wake up slightly manic most days but that's a post for another day.

I realized that last year we didn't do a Howard Solomon Run for Thyroid Cancer. It's been pretty popular in the past and I think it's time for a resurrection of sorts.

You can read about the last one here. In a nutshell, the Run for Thyroid Cancer (which really isn't a run at all) is designed to do two simple things that are important to me, personally: get people to be more active and give something back to the cancer community. And it's designed to be all inclusive. Anyone can "participate."

Here is how it's going to work this year: if in the aggregate we accumulate 100 points, I will make a somewhat significant donation in all of our names to Livestrong. So off the bat, let me say that this isn't going to cost you a thing. Just a little sweat. The donation will be made singularly by me, though you are welcome to make a donation if you choose. And if you do, you will receive a cool special prize. More on that later.

To participate, all you have to do is something "active" on the designated day. Active doesn't have to be a 50k - but you do have to break a light sweat. Lets go with an activity that gets your heart rate above 100. Could be a brisk walk, a light jog, family bike, a hike or a game of tennis (hi, dad!). You probably get the point. The one thing you HAVE to do to qualify is send me a picture as proof that I can then post to this site. I promise to protect privacy, especially of children.

Here is how the point system will work:

- you get one point if it's a solo activity - meaning just you
- you get one additional point for every adult member who partakes, and 2 additional points for every child
- you get 5 bonus points if I deem the event to be "gnarly". A run over 10 miles would probably count or a bike ride over 40.

The "event" will span over two days and I'm looking at the weekend of September 24-25. It jumps out at me as an active weekend: my daughter has her first swim meet of the season, my main man Todd is running the Hamptons Marathon and if I get permission from the Mrs., I will be doing the Coastal 50k.

Oh, and ten bonus points to Todd if he breaks 3:20 at the marathon. :)

Anyway, that's about it. Exact amount of the donation is TBD but it will be a good one and the specific amount will be dependent on our total points.

If you are in, please roll call it out in the comments. Interested in seeing who's still out there anyway.

Tuesday, August 30, 2011

I'm sad to say I had to wear a tie to work today; first time in nearly three years. We had a meeting with a conservative company and a colleague strongly suggested I wear one. So, with a degree of reticence I complied. Not sure if the thing matched but whatever. Anyway, here's the proof.

Saturday, August 27, 2011

Just finished the Headlands 50k - otherwise known as the Skinnyman 50k (Todd, I wore my shirt in honor of Skinnyman!). I finished in the not-too-bad time of 6:37, which was pretty good given the fact that my legs aren't entirely recovered from Vermont and I haven't run more than 13 miles since that race. So, overall, I am pleased.

I have to give a huge should out to the co-race directors, Tim and Diana Fitzpatrick. They are just awesome; fantastic race directors and just as nice people. They assumed race directing duties after last year's debacle. They didn't want to see the demise of a very highly regarded race and so they grabbed the reigns and did a fantastic job - one of the best run ultras I've ever done (this was ultra number 14 for more btw, to go along with 12 marathons). They personify everything that's good about this sport; thanks Tim and Diana for a job well done. It was a pleasure meeting you both in person. And I'm real glad that a story that ended so sour ended up so sweet.

Thursday, August 25, 2011

A mere 13 hours after leaving my parents house, we've arrived home. We could have been to Europe in that time; the near four hour delay made it kind of brutal. We had a great trip East - always a highlight of the year, but I'm happy to be home and have us all return to some degree of normalcy.

In other news, the Yankees set a major league record today by hitting three grand slams in one game. We passed by Yankee Stadium as the game was being played. I'm going to take that as some sort of cosmic message. What it might mean, I have no idea.

Over and out for now; got to rest up for my 50k race on Saturday. Scratching my head trying to figure out why I signed up for that one.

Friday, August 19, 2011

Picked up the kids on thursday am from camp; they had a blast. I'm already ready to send them back. But that's a story for another day.

We headed up to Maine post-camp to celebrate my mother-in-laws 70th birthday. I can't recollect ever being here before' I have to say, it's incredibly beautiful and very .. New England-ish, which isn't necessarily a bad thing (Red Sox aside). I have had lobster for lunch and dinner for two consecutive days and that streak should last so long as we are here. Also, the water is about as cold as Northern California which is something I don't fully understand. At least the beaches are equally as beautiful.

Tuesday, August 16, 2011

A new Crossfit facility opened in my hometown recently and this past Saturday I went to check it out. Had a talk with the coach, who walked me through a few of the exercises. He then gave me (and a few of the others in attendance) a baseline test, which consisted of a 500 meter down, 40 squats, 30 sit ups, 20 pushups and 10 pull-ups all for time. If that doesn't sound like much, give it a shot. It hurt - badly. My baseline was 5:10. It was pretty cool and I am getting a sense this might become my new thing. I'm headed East for a few days to get my kids at camp and plan to "officially" start when I get back. I sense a new addiction.......

Sunday, August 14, 2011

Wel, that was super fun. It's been a while since I've been to a music festival that size (maybe the original Lalapalooza - 20 years ago!), I went with my friend Jennifer, who just moved to Marin, and we had a blast. Highlights included the Black Keys, Warren Haynes Band, Muse and my personal favorite - Girl Talk. Man, Girl Talk was unreal; Gillis had the entire place just rocking. The only bummer - and it was a fairly major one at that - was getting out of there. It literally - no exaggeration - took us 2 hours to find a car. It was brutal but kind of fun at the same time. I'm glad I went but that might be it so far as large festivals go; I love the music but the crowds make me mental - though there was definitely some good people watching. There are some crazy characters in San Francisco.

Today was pretty much a perfect day: slept late-ishh; went out for a pancake breakfast; ran 13 miles of killer trails (ouch did that hurt) hung out at the pool and swam a bit and just cooked a steak. Then: True Blood, Entourage and Breaking Bad. As solid as it gets.

In other news: I signed up for a 50k in two weeks. Gotta do something with all this fitness. Yes. I am completely out of my mind.

Friday, August 12, 2011

I'm not one for big, massive festivals, but I do like me some music and I am a bachelor for one more week, so I'm headed to check out Outside Lands tomorrow. The lineup is terrific but I am especially excited to see Girl Talk - one of my favorite "bands" (to the extent you can define him as such). Should be fun, if I can figure out how to navigate into and out of San Francisco and all the accompanying traffic. Will try to post pictures of all the bands and all the hipsters.

Wednesday, August 10, 2011

You don't usually think of Summer for good TV, but I think it features the best shows of the year. I'm deeply hooked into five shows, all of which have been good to great.

By far, my favorite is Breaking Bad. If you don't watch it, start now. The acting and writing is superb and it picks up momentum each season. This season, Four, might be best of all.

Next in the queue is True Blood. It's still a favorite, but I feel like it's starting to stall a bit. Some of the storylines are becoming a bit silly and superfluous. It's too entertaining to ever give up, but the overall story arc isn't progressing to the same degree as Breaking Bad.

Next up is Entourage. Episode one bummed me, episode two stokes (by the way, be sure to check out www.bumsorstokesyou.tumblr.com). It's a bit too early to tell; Entourage generally picks up momentum as the season progresses. Doesn't stoke me that this is the last season.

Weeds is on to its six season I think and it started off great; they definitely mixed things up and the first two episodes were terrific. Since then it's slowed significantly and I'd even go so far as to say that this week's episode was bad.

And last but not least is the Larry David Show. It used to bum me but I watched anyway because the Wife is a big fan and somewhere along the way I got hooked. That Larry David is a character.

And that's about it for me; five seems like a pretty manageable number. Anything I am missing out on?

You don't usually think of Summer for good TV, but I think it features the best shows of the year. I'm deeply hooked into five shows, all of which have been good to great.

By far, my favorite is Breaking Bad. If you don't watch it, start now. The acting and writing is superb and it picks up momentum each season. This season, Four, might be best of all.

Next in the queue is True Blood. It's still a favorite, but I feel like it's starting to stall a bit. Some of the storylines are becoming a bit silly and superfluous. It's too entertaining to ever give up, but the overall story arc isn't progressing to the same degree as Breaking Bad.

Next up is Entourage. Episode one bummed me, episode two stokes (by the way, be sure to check out www.bumsorstokesyou.tumblr.com). It's a bit too early to tell; Entourage generally picks up momentum as the season progresses. Doesn't stoke me that this is the last season.

Weeds is on to its six season I think and it started off great; they definitely mixed things up and the first two episodes were terrific. Since then it's slowed significantly and I'd even go so far as to say that this week's episode was bad.

And last but not least is the Larry David Show. It used to bum me but I watched anyway because the Wife is a big fan and somewhere along the way I got hooked. That Larry David is a character.

And that's about it for me; five seems like a pretty manageable number. Anything I am missing out on?

Sunday, August 7, 2011

Just back from my annual boy's weekend in Michigan; the 8th consecutive year we've made this trip. Outside time with my family, it just might be my favorite four days of the year. Not much to report; we hang out, eat, swim, good on each other and tell the same old stories for the upteenth time. It's the best, ever.

I'll post a few pictures tomorrow but in the interim, off to sleep. That's one thing we don't seem to do much of.

Monday, August 1, 2011

I had a killer dinner at Coach Phil's tonight; salmon that was caught off a boat earlier in the day. It was undoubtably the freshest fish I've ever had in my life. Phil cooked it in his smoker and it was fantastic.

The company was pretty good too. The guy who caught the fish is a legendary ultra athlete who's finished Badwater twice and won Ultraman Hawaii (look that one up if you have a free moment). He's a gnarly dude. Another guy will be attempting the first ever solo swim across the Sea of Cortez. That's 57 miles of continuous swimming.

Never ceases to amaze me what badasses live in Northern California. These dudes make my 100 miler look like a proverbial walk in the park.